


Find Happiness in Misery

by percyspandapillowpet



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M, it's fluffy and christmasy, originally written on 12/15/2015, title creds to FOB, very seasonally appropriate
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 15:19:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,437
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8758204
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/percyspandapillowpet/pseuds/percyspandapillowpet
Summary: "Nothing can make me happy, Solace," he spat bitterly before turning away and wiping furiously at his face."I like to try."---In which Nico is searching for happiness, for his childhood, and for a Christmas present.





	

Nico couldn't believe he was doing this.

He was at a store. A games and books store. Looking for a Christmas present for a son of Apollo.

It was impossible. Somehow, in some backwards, obscure way, he felt obliged to buy a gift for Will freaking Solace.

That couldn't have been right. Last Nico checked, they weren't even friends. Technically. Yeah, he had spent time with the blond idiot nearly every day since the Giant War back in August, but that was only because Will wouldn't let him out of his sight for more than twenty-four hours. For medical purposes, obviously. Never, not once, had either of them brought up the concept of friends.

Besides, Nico completely and utterly despised Will Solace. Why would he want to be friends with some exasperating medic who held him in an infirmary cot against his will and force-fed him three nutritious meals a day because he was "extremely underweight?" The idea was appalling.

Yet, here he was, standing in the middle of a shop, customers browsing all around him, confused and indecisive over what would make a fitting gift.

Maybe it was instinctual. Maybe because Will had healed his injuries and treated his wounds, Nico's brain thought he should repay the favor.

Yes, that was it, he decided. It most certainly had nothing to do with maybe kind of having a tiny little crush. Nope.

Swiftly shoving those thoughts back to the furthest corner of his mind and focusing instead on the inevitable task at hand, Nico glanced around, searching for something, anything that would fit all criteria, when his eyes landed on something all too familiar.

There, displayed atop a shelf in the center of the store, was a small navy-blue box, with swirly gold lettering that spelled _Mythomagic_.

He hadn't seen the game in years. The last time he played was…before his sister died. The fact that the original version was still being sold brought on waves of nostalgia and despondency.

Suddenly he was standing right in front of it, as if the cards really did hold supernatural abilities and had put him in some sort of trance and reeled him in.

_What if he bought it for Will?_

The idea struck him like an unexpected punch to the gut. This game, no matter how crude and childish, harnessed so much sentimental value and so many painful memories. Just looking at it made his knees weak. Why in Hades would it be appropriate to share with a boy he had known for a mere four and a half months?

Still, his hand inched toward it, the irrational part of his mind assuring him it was the right thing to do.

 _Why not?_ he pondered, though the other half of his brain was screaming _why_.

Eventually impulse won over judiciousness, and his hand grasped the box in front of him.

“Hey!”

Jumping back into reality, he was met with another hand holding the same box as his own, and a pair of blue eyes.

Thirty seconds of silence followed as both boys were locked in a state of shock, jaws dropped and eyes wide.

_“Nico?”_

The realization finally hitting him like a ton of bricks, Nico stumbled backwards, bumping into another shelf and nearly knocking off a row of books.

He was at a complete loss for words. Out of all the people that could’ve decided to visit that _exact_ store at the _exact_ same date and time, and reach for that _exact_ box just as he did—it just _had_ to be him.

Sometimes Nico wondered if his bad luck would ever run out.

“Nico, what…” Will Solace’s face was entirely pink, the game still clutched in his right hand. “What are you doing here?”

The question pulled Nico back to his senses. “Shopping, obviously,” he growled. “What else do people come to a store to do, Solace?”

“I thought you said you were leaving camp to run an errand for your father.”

Even without a mirror in sight, Nico knew he was blushing as well. “I…um…”

“You lied,” Will said. “You didn’t want me to know you were coming here.” He glanced down at the box. “You didn’t want me to know you were buying a kid’s game, did you?” A slight smile pulled at his lips.

“No!” Nico retorted, his voice an octave higher than usual. He coughed. “I mean, that’s not why I’m here. The game’s not for me.”

Will raised an eyebrow. “Oh, really? It’s a Christmas gift, then, I presume? Who for?” There was an odd sort of hopefulness in his gaze.

If his palms weren’t sweating before, they definitely were now. “Uh…no one special,” he responded, noticing how Will’s eyes immediately dulled.

“Oh,” he said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. “I’ve, uh…I’ve heard from a few friends of yours that you really like this game.” He glanced at the cover and smiled a little. “ _Mythomagic_.”

Nico shot him a sharp glare. “They’re wrong.” When Will looked ready to head out the door, however, his gaze softened a bit. “I…I haven’t played it since I was ten. Since Bianca died.”

Will’s eyes took on a familiar expression—the same way he had looked when stitching up Nico’s werewolf scratches or sitting by his bedside to calm him from a nightmare. Nico needed to stop paying attention to how blue they were.

“Oh gods, Nico, I’m so sorry,” Will spoke in a hushed tone. “I shouldn’t have brought it up.” He then glanced back to the box in his hand and paused just as he was about to return it to its proper place. “I was going to buy it for you,” he blurted. “For Christmas. I thought it would remind you of your childhood, maybe make you happy. But I’m sorry.”

Nico wasn’t quite sure what it was, but some sort of emotion surged through him that brought tears to his eyes. “ _Nothing_ can make me _happy_ , Solace,” he spat bitterly before turning away and wiping furiously at his face. And it was true. There was nothing, there never could be anything, nothing that would match Bianca...

“I like to try.”

He paused in his exit. “What?”

Will sighed and caught up to him. “I _want_ you to be happy, Nico. And I haven’t quite figured you out yet, but I’m trying my hardest.”

 _I want you to be happy_.

The words reverberated through his skull, echoing in the same gentle tone in which they were spoken. That was a sentence Nico never thought he would hear. Was it actually true, though, or were the words uttered without any real meaning?

In a whim, he lifted his head to meet the blue eyes staring back at him. “I was going to teach you.”

“What?”

His courage immediately betraying him, Nico returned to studying his black Converse. “I…I was going to buy the game for you. So I could teach you how to play it.”

When he gathered the strength to meet Will’s gaze again, he wasn’t expecting the genuine smile he received.

“Nico, that’s…that’s so sweet.”

Nico wasn’t sure if he wanted to break down crying in the middle of a busy store or end his life then and there out of utter embarrassment. He didn’t have to choose, however, as Will sparked yet another question.

“Is it okay if I hug you?”

All his old habits screamed _run_ , but Nico decided maybe this moment was worthy of an exception.

It was very short and slightly awkward, but probably qualified as the best Nico had felt in for years when Will wrapped him in a tight but careful embrace. Nico could sense his caution and wariness due to his own touch aversion, but Will was warm and smelled like sunflowers, and he surprisingly enjoyed it much more than he would’ve expected.

 _It's the truth_ , he decided. And maybe nothing would ever make him quite as happy as the smile on his sister's face as they enjoyed an Italian Christmas feast under the light of candles, or the way his mother would kiss him on the forehead before tucking them into bed...but perhaps there could be a close second.

When he pulled away, Nico was left with the infamous skeletal butterflies hosting a race in his stomach.

“I bet I can kick your ass at this game,” Will said with a playful smirk, pulling Nico out of his thoughts.

“Are you serious?” Nico scoffed. “There’s no way in Hades you can beat my years of experience, med head.”

“We’ll see, my friend. We’ll see.”

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone!! I've been writing/reading PJO fics for 2-3ish years now, and I figured since I spend so much time on ao3 (and since wattpad is kind of a mess now and I've stopped using it) I should actually make an account!! I'm going to be posting all my old/sort-of-newish stuff on here and then hopefully start working on something better after finals. Thank you for reading, hope you have a lovely day :)


End file.
